Ten-Year-Old’s Pursuit of Adulthood: A Story of Style, Rebellion, and “American Graffiti“
PORTLAND, OR – A poignant snapshot of pre-teen yearning for self-definition has emerged from a personal essay detailing a young girl’s navigation of identity, style, and social dynamics in the mid-1970s. The narrative, centered around a girl nearing her tenth birthday, reveals a determined effort to accelerate into adolescence, fueled by pop culture and a desire to escape the confines of childhood.
The story unfolds against the backdrop of a radical, hippie-pedagogy public school in Portland, Oregon, where the protagonist grappled with fitting in while simultaneously forging her own path. A pivotal moment arrived with a school play production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” Despite lacking lines, the girl invested deeply in her costume – a self-made, ruffled floral skirt paired with an acetate-and-voile crinoline - hoping to embody a 1950s aesthetic. This effort was met with criticism from classmates who insisted only poodle skirts were “authentic” fifties, leaving her feeling disheartened for both her skirt and her mother’s efforts.
Though, the play itself failed to capture her creativity. Her true inspiration lay in George Lucas’s “American Graffiti,” a film that presented a world she actively wanted to inhabit. She fixated on the film’s charismatic characters, particularly john, the “good-looking hoodlum with the yellow Deuce Coupe,” and the attitude-driven lifestyle they represented. This desire manifested in small acts of rebellion: rolling raisins in her T-shirt sleeve as a substitute for cigarettes, and repeatedly listening to the “American Graffiti” soundtrack, particularly Del Shannon’s “runaway,” identifying with the song’s melancholic tone. “When Del Shannon sang in his tortured, smoky voice that he was ‘a-walkin’ in the rain,’ I, too, was a-walkin’ in the rain. I was walking toward my future, toward my plan to become a moody teen-ager.”
The pursuit of this imagined future wasn’t without conflict. After weeks of being targeted by Denise, a talented singer and dancer who was a lead in the play, the protagonist erupted in a physical altercation, resulting in a week-long suspension following a “trial by a jury of her peers” at the alternative school. remarkably, the incident led to an unexpected reconciliation.Denise approached her upon her return to school and was ”nice,” initiating a surprising friendship.
That summer,the two girls engaged in risky behavior,swimming through the rapids under a bridge at the Willamette River,despite being forbidden to do so. They experimented with smoking, starting with safety matches and progressing to Kools purchased from a vending machine at the Atrium shopping complex downtown, ultimately finding cigarettes ”gross.”
The narrative culminates with the protagonist’s fascination with the Bee Gees’ “More Than a Woman” from the “saturday Night fever” soundtrack. She had seen the R-rated film with her brother, with her mother initially pretending to accompany them but ultimately leaving them to watch it alone.While disturbed by the film’s violent scenes – a rape scene and a rumble – she nonetheless yearned to be “more than a woman,” or at least “an almost-woman.” This desire fueled further attempts at self-transformation: using a curling iron to feather her hair,longing for makeup,and practicing walking in her mother’s Dr. Scholl’s sandals, imagining they were high heels. She became fixated on a pair of high heels displayed at Burch’s Shoes.
This story offers a compelling glimpse into the complexities of childhood, the power of pop culture, and the worldwide desire to define oneself, even - and perhaps especially - at a young age. It highlights a period of cultural transition, where the idealized past of the 1950s collided with the emerging trends of the 1970s, leaving a lasting impression on a young girl’s developing identity.
